This book is dedicated to Allie Collins, a great editor and loyal Red
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER 1: A LEGEND IN THE MAKING
CHAPTER 2: WORLD AT HIS FEET
CHAPTER 3: UNITED HE STANDS
CHAPTER 4: A HERO’S WELCOME
CHAPTER 5: PREMIER CLASS
CHAPTER 6: WEMBLEY WOE
CHAPTER 7: GOLDEN YEAR
CHAPTER 8: INTERNATIONAL RESCUE
CHAPTER 9: SECONDS OUT
CHAPTER 10: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BUBBLY
CHAPTER 11: THE MEXICAN WAVE
CHAPTER 12: BACK IN THE OLD ROUTINE
CHAPTER 13: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF A LEGEND
Plates
Copyright
Special thanks: John Blake, Allie Collins and all at John Blake Publishing. Alan Feltham and the boys at SunSport, Dominic Turnbull, the Mail on Sunday and Nick Pisa.
Thanks: Gary Edwards, Adrian Baker, Ben Felsenburg, Steven Gordon, Dave Morgan, Darren O’Driscoll, David and Nicki Burgess, Denise Hanray, Pravina Patel, Martin Creasy, Lee Hassall, Ian Rondeau, Colin Forshaw, John Fitzpatrick, Roy Stone and Tom Henderson Smith. Not forgetting: Angela, Frankie, Jude, Nat, Barbara, Frank, Bob and Stephen, Gill, Lucy, Alex, Suzanne, Michael and William.
There’s a billboard that stands 50ft high and 50ft wide in the city centre of Javier Hernandez’s hometown of Guadalajara in Mexico. You can’t miss it – it dominates the skyline above the Nike store. It features a picture of the player who is widely acknowledged as one of Mexico’s best ever and who is carving out a worldwide name for himself at arguably the biggest football club in the world, Manchester United.
Yes, Javier, arms aloft in triumph, wearing a United shirt, beams down at passing motorists and pedestrians from the billboard with a legendary accompanying message written on one side. Seven words proclaim the ever-developing legend of the boy who would grow up to become universally known as ‘Chicharito’ – ‘Te Vas Como Heroe, Regresa Como Leyenda’. Translated it reads: ‘You leave as a hero, return as a legend’.
And that is certainly proving to be the case. Since leaving his hometown for United in the summer of 2010, Javier has won a big place in the hearts of the fans at Old Trafford while also cementing his position as one of the best strikers on the planet – so good that just a year after he arrived in Manchester, Jose Mourinho was willing to pay £30million to take him to Real Madrid. Yet for all his stardom, increasing fame and obvious natural talent Javier also had another side to him; and it was most unusual in the era of the spoilt, totally selfish modern professional footballer. Javier is never in the papers for behaving badly or cheating on his girlfriend. That is probably down to his upbringing – he is a devout Catholic and believes in honesty and trust. He is faithful to his long-term girlfriend, Leticia Sahagun, and is more interested in improving himself as a human being than indulging in the hedonistic pursuits many of today’s footballers believe are perfectly acceptable. As I write this, he is improving his already excellent grasp of the English language and he believes in looking after his family. His mother Sopapilla and sister Ana live with him in a luxury home in the leafy Cheshire countryside near Manchester and his father, also called Javier, loves nothing better than joining them and spending time with his son. The Hernandezes are a close-knit family with a loyalty and love for one another that is a joy to witness: indeed, Javier senior quit his job in Mexico so that he could watch his son play in the World Cup in 2010 (more of that later).
Javier junior’s grandfather Tomas, now 79, summed up the young man’s outlook on life when he said, ‘I’m not sure there’s a man more dedicated to his work than my grandson. He has his diet – he doesn’t eat just anything. He never drinks even a drop of alcohol. He doesn’t stay up late for any reason. He’s a very quiet boy. He’s 100 per cent professional; he doesn’t stay up all hours. In Manchester, there might be people who try and change him but if they leave him to live like he knows how, he’ll be fine. He won’t even go out to the cinema sometimes. He prefers to come home after training, eat and then sleep.’
It is unusual but admirable to witness at first hand the rise of a young man who isn’t just a genius on the football field – but also a great guy off it. Someone who lacks the usual massive ego that goes hand in hand with today’s footballers. Someone who is humble, genuine and extremely likeable as a human being. This is the life story of the boy who would become known as the ‘Little Pea’ – and who would earn his right to legendary status on that billboard in Guadalajara through his deeds at United. The life story of the first Mexican player to ‘make it’ in the hustle and bustle of the English Premier League – and the life story of a young man who has the talent, dedication and humility to become a legend at Old Trafford and in his home country. A true hero for our oft troubled modern times…
Javier Hernandez Balcazar was born on June 1, 1988, in Guadalajara, a bustling city and the capital of the central Mexican state of Jalisco. Guadalajara is also Mexico’s second city and was, of course, the venue for some of England’s matches during the fabulous World Cup tournament of 1970 held in the country. Arguably the greatest World Cup ever, it sealed Mexico’s legend in footballing terms and will forever be remembered by Englishmen for a match that could itself easily go down as one of the greatest matches ever involving England. On June 7, 1970, England heroically lost 1-0 to Brazil at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara. It was a match between arguably the world’s two finest teams and it featured breathtaking skills from Pelé, a fine winner from Jairzinho and a wonder save from Gordon Banks from a Pelé header – a save that would go down in the annals of football as ‘The Save of the Century’.
So Guadalajara already held its place in world footballing history – Chicharito’s father and grandfather had watched the Brazil v England match themselves and swooned at the skills on display – and it was the place where Javier would learn his skills and develop and mature as a footballer and a man. He played for Chivas Guadalajara, the top club team in the football-mad country.
Football was in the family’s DNA – both his father, Javier Hernandez Gutierrez, and grandfather, Tomas, had played at the top Mexican club level and for the national team. Chicharito has two surnames as is the tradition in Latin countries – Balcazar is the maternal family name while Hernandez is the paternal family name.
His father bought him his first football at 10 months old and taught him how to play from ‘as soon as he could walk’ and his mother Sopapilla Balcazar, a housewife, was just as encouraging. Like her husband, she could see that the boy had a rare natural talent – hardly surprising given the footballing DNA of his father and grandfather Tomas Balcazar.
Javier senior had made his name at top Mexican outfit Club de Futbol Estudiantes and went on to play 28 times for the Mexican national team. His father-in-law Tomas played for Chivas Guadalajara – like Javier Jnr and Javier Snr – and also in the 1954 World Cup for the Mexican national side.
Javier Snr would regularly take his son to a piece of wasteland next to Guadalajara international airport every day after school, teaching him how to dribble and when to keep the ball and when to